Swimnastics Makes Taking The Exercise Plunge Easy

A lone woman leisurely swims the length of a 75-foot pool as a group of older women, some wearing shower caps to protect their hair, start entering the water.

Making her way toward the shallow end, the woman exits the water, leaving her morning swim behind. The swimmer's pool time is up because Jean James' 8:30 a.m. exercise class is about to begin.

James, 61, started taking swimnastics classes at the Newport News YMCA in the mid-1970s. She has instructed others in the activity for more than a decade.

"I wanted to get into it because I really needed some kind of activity," says James

Swimnastics, a low-impact aerobic exercise performed while the body is submerged in water, helps improve the cardiovascular system.

James says it's also a good way to exercise if you suffer from any type of disability such as arthritis or multiple sclerosis.

Swimnastics is less stressful than other exercises, says James. Between falls, arthritis and the changes of aging, her knees gave out.

"The cartilage in both my left and my right knee just disintegrated," she says.

James had a choice between having to spend the rest of her life in a wheelchair or having her knees rebuilt. The long, smooth-looking scars running vertically down her kneecaps are mementos of her surgeries.

After her first operation in 1987, James was eager to begin exercising again. Because swimnastics is a low-impact activity, she was back in the water six weeks after her surgery.

Becoming an instructor was a matter of being in the right place at the right time. After the first instructor left and the YMCA made several unsuccessful attempts to use lifeguards as teachers, James was asked to help.

"I had to keep on teaching the lifeguards how to do it," she says.

When James took over the program, only 10 people were enrolled; now there are over 100 exercisers in the program.

People of all ages participate, from a 22-year-old woman to an octogenarian named Stanley. "I teach swimnastics at the pace I'm supposed to, but sometimes people need to go at their own speed," says James.

In the the case of Stanley, who is 82, James fondly says, "he goes at his own speed, which is slow, but that doesn't matter because we're all so glad he comes out."

She has exercisers who travel from Hampton, York County and across the James River Bridge from Suffolk to attend class.

Laughter echoes through the large, brightly painted room housing the 8-foot-deep pool. Putting the class through its paces, James counts off how many times an exercise has been completed.

The exercise mantra of "one relax, two relax, three relax," is heard throughout the hour-long class. The water at the shallow end of the pool churns as the women vigorously move their arms.

Although the water makes exercise easier, it can also be used as a resistance. Many people taking the class are doing so to keep limber and tone up, James says.

Anna Stall, 59, who lives in the Fox Hill area of Hampton, originally began taking swimnastics when the Newport News YMCA first offered it in 1975.

When she was younger, Stall had to stop because of sickness, fatigue and the responsibilities of motherhood. She returned to the activity after having a pacemaker operation. Her physician suggested some activity to help her recuperate from the surgery and to keep her weight down.

"When I first came, I couldn't move my arm very much, now I can," she says.

After the class, Stall says she feels very good. "Doing my exercising here helps me tremendously because I couldn't do some of these things at home."

Jane Wilson, who lives in Suffolk, noticed how much swimnastics improved her mobility when she was doing housework one day.

"It's really helped my back, I have less trouble bending and stooping," says Wilson, 66, who suffers from a chronic back problem. After a swimnastics workout, she feels a lot more flexible.

"I just feel wonderful for the rest of the day," says Wilson.

Swimnastics is offered by the Newport News YMCA, 7827 Warwick Blvd., 8:30 a.m., 9:30 a.m. and 10:30 a.m. on Monday, Wednesday and Friday; evening classes are held at 7 p.m. and 8 p.m. on Tuesday and Thursday. The program fee is $18 for YMCA members, $32.50 for non-members. For more information, call 245-0047.